1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a cup and can holder having a round base plate that may be pulled in an outward direction from and rotated relative to a frame so as to receive a beverage can or a coffee cup at opposite sides of the base plate. The cup and can holder is particularly useful in moving vehicles (e.g. a boat, and the like) where it is necessary to restrain the cup and can that are otherwise subjected to turbulence and similar mechanical forces during operation of the vehicle.
2. Background Art
In my U.S. Pat. No. 5,383,586 granted Jan. 24, 1995, I disclosed an easy to use pull out cup and can holder that is adapted to restrain cans and cups of different size in a vehicle (e.g. a boat) so as to prevent the cup or can being restrained from tipping over and spilling its contents as a consequence of the vehicle being subjected to turbulence and similar mechanical forces. My patented cup and can holder is advantageously non-obtrusive, such that it can be installed at an out of the way location below almost any flat mounting surface without requiring an alteration to the surface.
A pair of round holes in which to receive respective beverage cans is formed through a first end of a rectangular base plate and an opening in which to receive a coffee cup is formed through the opposite end of the base plate. The rectangular base plate is supported within and pulled partially out of a frame to expose either the holes or the opening depending upon whether a cup or a can is to be restrained. During use of my patented cup and can holder, it is necessary to pull the rectangular base plate completely out of its frame so that the base plate can be turned around and then returned to the frame with the holes or opening at the rear of the base plate now located at the front, and vice versa.
The steps of having to remove, turn and then replace the rectangular base plate have proven, on occasion, to be inconvenient and time consuming. Moreover, the base plate might become separated from its frame and misplaced, whereby to render the cup and can holder unusable. Accordingly, an improvement to my earlier cup and can holder would be desirable to avoid the aforementioned shortcomings.